ROCHERS DE NAYE HIKE FROM MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND

Rochers de Naye hike takes you to a summit near above Montreux that has arguably the best view of Lake Geneva. Depending on the weather you may also be above the clouds, which is always an incredible experience. It is possible to hike up or take the train to the summit or if you are feeling adventurous there is even a Via Ferrata option.

In this blog post, I will share with you my experiences on the train from Montreux, your options in traveling to and from the summit. I’ll also detail what to expect at the summit where there are a restaurant and hotel.

Hike Distance: 13km one-way. Probably best to choose either to hike up or down otherwise prepare for 7+ hours of hiking.

Hike Duration: This depends on whether you hike up, down or both. It can range from 3-10 hours depending on what you choose. To hike down from Rochers de Naye should take no more than 3 hours.

Hike Difficulty: Steep but safe and not technical. Some walking through the forest on a dirt trail.

Hike Incline: Starting point at Montreux: 396m – Rochers de Naye: 2,042m

HOW TO GET TO ROCHERS DE NAYE

There are several options by which you can reach Rochers de Naye summit. I will outline them below and share with you how I reached the summit.

How I reached the summit (Catch the train from Montreux Station to Rochers de Naye. The price of the ticket was 17.50 CHF, which is about $16 USD. The train car is quite steep and takes about 45 minutes to transport you from the Montreux station to the summit. It drops you right at the door of the restaurant and hotel and there is no walking involved. You literally enjoy the views at the summit without needing to walk more than fifty yards. Here you can use your Swiss Half-Fare Card so you only need to pay half of the ticket price. We caught the last train, which was at 5:17 pm but you should check the current timetable here.
The other option is to hike to the summit. This would be quite a steep hike with an ascent of more than 1600m throughout the trail. The estimate is that it would take about four hours. We took the trail down and it took us about 2 hours and 45 minutes to get down. I suggest taking the train up and then hiking down

MY EXPERIENCE AT ROCHERS DE NAYE

It was a bit of a cloudy day but we decided that we would give Rochers de Naye a shot. There was lots of fog clouding out the peaks of all the mountains near Lake Geneva but we’d traveled for an hour to arrive in Montreux so there was no going back now. We grabbed our tickets at Montreux Station after paying $3 for our parking spot nearby the station. The train leaves once every hour to Rochers de Naye so you might want to time your run by checking this schedule.

Once aboard the train, we began chugging up the hill, passing through a few tunnels and grabbing a small slice of view through the forest every few minutes. As we climbed past 1300m the clouds starting to thicken and we thought we were done for, destined to be stuck inside a cloud with no views at the summit.

The cogwheel railway takes you through forests through the mountains on its way up to Rochers-de-Naye at 2042 m.

For the next few hundred meters of the ascent all, we could see was a wall of white. We were a bit disappointed until we came into the station at Rochers de Naye and we were, in fact, above the clouds. Not only where we above the clouds, but they were parting over Lake Geneva. We had lucked out big time and enjoyed the fast-pace of the clouds as they constantly swept through in waves across the viewpoint.

The clouds surrounding Rochers de Naye

Rochers de Naye station, hotel, and restaurant

Once you reach the hotel and restaurant at the summit of Rochers de Naye, there are lots of things to do. You can explore down either side of the ridge, visit the local Marmots, have a coffee or meal in the restaurant or head up to the absolute top of the summit for the best views of Lake Geneva.

One of the hungry marmots inside it’s enclosure

We decided to head up to the top viewpoint and watch the clouds dance over Lake Geneva. The sun rays at this time were amazing and creating all kinds of colors and reflections off the lake. It would be great to be up here at sunset although it is a long walk down in the dark. It’s best to head down before sunset.

From the top on a clear day you can see Eiger, the Mont Blanc massif and Geneva’s famous Jet d’eau fountain.

With the fog increasing and reducing our visibility, we now decided to head back down as it was 7:30 pm. Although there are many signs directing us back to Montreux, we managed to find ourselves in an undesirable route, which was actually meant for the Via Ferrata access. The hike down is 13km and should take no more than 3-4 hours.

We ended up heading down a number of steep stairways and I honestly have no idea, which way we went although we managed to somehow navigate ourselves back home through the fog and a huge storm that soaked us. Along the way we followed the red and white arrows, bumped into a mountain goat and came across some glacial ice…. all while following the train tracks home. I don’t recommend our route home but it was definitely eventful.

THE TRAIN FROM MONTREUX TO ROCHERS DE NAYE

The train departs from Montreux Station and the price of the ticket was 17.50 CHF, which is about $16 USD. The train is quite steep and takes about 45 minutes to transport you from the Montreux station to the summit. It drops you right at the door of the restaurant and hotel and there is no walking involved. You literally enjoy the views at the summit without needing to walk more than fifty yards. Here you can use your Swiss Half-Fare Card so you only need to pay half of the ticket price. We caught the last train, which was at 5:17 pm but you should check the current timetable here.

Here you can see the train carving its way through the mountain

MY SWITZERLAND HIKING GUIDES

I spent 100 days hiking in Switzerland and created a guide for different regions around the country. You can click on one of my Switzerland hiking guides below to help you plan your trip.

THE SWITZERLAND HIKING GUIDE: 50 AWESOME HIKES IN IN SWITZERLAND: I spent 100 days in Switzerland making this huge guide with all of the hikes I personally explored.

4 AWESOME VIA FERRATA COURSES IN SWITZERLAND: Via Ferrata is a cliff-side climbing route where you are harnessed in. You have to try it at least once!

10 AWESOME HIKES NEAR LAUTERBRUNNEN: Lauterbrunnen is the most picturesque valley in Switzerland and is situated perfectly amidst many famous hiking routes.

INTERLAKEN HIKING GUIDE: 15 AWESOME HIKES IN INTERLAKEN: Interlaken is my favorite town in Switzerland and is the number one hiking base.

12 AWESOME HIKES NEAR GRINDELWALD: A great location to base if you are a keen hiker with lots of hut-to-hut hikes and epic peaks.

7 AWESOME HIKES IN MURREN: Murren is one of the most beautiful towns in Switzerland and is surrounded by great hiking routes.

9 AWESOME HIKES NEAR APPENZELL: My favorite hikes around the Alpstein Region and other peaks near Appenzell.

7 AWESOME HIKES NEAR CHUR: Several beautiful lakes, and incredible gorge hike, and an epic Via Ferrata course.

MY PERSONALIZED SWITZERLAND TRAVEL TIPS

SWITZERLAND BUDGET BACKPACKING GUIDE: In this blog, I talk about the cost of travel and how to travel around Switzerland on the cheap with some tips and hacks from my experience.

20 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: MY SWITZERLAND TRAVEL TIPS: You probably didn’t even think of half of these. I didn’t either and figured many of these tips out the hard way.

MOST IMPORTANT TRANSPORT TIP: SWISS HALF CARD

OPTION 1: Switzerland trains, buses, and cable cars are EXPENSIVE! I found the best way to get around cheaply was to buy the Swiss Half-Fare Card before I arrived. It gives you 50% off every regular train, bus, and even many cable cars. It only costs $150 USD but pays itself off in just a few days with many train tickets in Switzerland costing close to $100 alone. OPTION 2: The second option is to get the Swiss Travel Pass, which gives you unlimited train, bus, and (many) cable car rides but it’s pretty expensive at around $100 USD per day so if you don’t travel each day it isn’t worth it. OPTION 3: The final option is to get the FLEXI Swiss Travel Pass, which allows you to buy 8 days’ worth of transit but you can choose the night before if you want to activate the next day. That way you don’t need to travel every day to get your money’s worth, you can just activate the FLEXI Swiss Travel Pass on the days where you are doing sizeable transits. My advice is to book the Swiss Half-Fare Card or the FLEXI Swiss Travel Pass in advance before your trip so it’s ready to go when you arrive.